Macao is not a "Creative City of Gastronomy" (titled bestowed by UNESCO) by accident. For some reason, the tiny (30 km2) autonomous region near China has managed to become the Las Vegas of the East AND one of the top food capitals of the world. And I just read that it will also become the world's richest place by 2020, outstripping Qatar! Despite what most people think, that Macao is just a casino and hotels city, there's so many more hidden gems and discoveries (I have detailed some of that in this blog post). For those thinking of going there, check out wego.com for their flight and hotel promos as well.

Here I'm going to outline must-go restaurants and eating spots you need to check out in 2018, beyond the standard touristy spots. It is actual mind-blowing when you contemplate how the world's cuisine converged in this 30km2, on top of existing Portuguese and Chinese food, and I could put this together! Kudos to my sister who lives there for supplying me with the intel and photos!

A French cafe inspired destination opened by Betty Fung, an inspirational figure in the Macao F&B (she was featured in a Macau Lifestyle interview). By the way, Betty also does private cooking (set menu) at your house or venue of ur choice (with a kitchen, of course), but you can contact her to arrange it!

They even have their own herb garden!

4. Taipa Cafe
Shop B .The Manhattan Rua de Nam Keng, Flores 花城區南京街曼克頓南塔地下B舖
This Italian/European restaurant has been around for a while, but they serve up pretty good food that is just outside of The Manhattan condo building.

A new addition to the Galaxy Hotel, this French cafe has traditional French bistro food and Chinese food, which is an odd but interesting pairing.

5. Common Table
Shop A, G/F, Nova City, 349-365 Avenida de Guimaraes, Vila de Taipa 氹仔舊城區基馬拉斯大馬路349-365號濠庭都會地面鋪A
The owners of Taipa Cafe also recently opened another new cafe in town to provide quality brunch food for those seeking the "fresh grocer/bakery" experience.

Over at another really traditional eatery, you can find super good cheong fun aka rice rolls made fresh on the spot! Check out another blogger's account of his visit Diary of a Growing Boy's blog - the food really looked so good!

Featured in this year's Michelin Guide, Ngao Keo Ka Lei Chon is one of my sister's favourite local eateries. They are famous for their super sinful crab roe tossed noodles, super spicy curry beef brisket and other local dishes. Read more about them in OpenRice and in Steph852 Diary.

10. Estabelecimento de Comidas Fai Seng 輝盛根記食館
G/F, 89 Rua da Erva, Santo Antonio 新橋(三盞燈/白鴿巢)青草街89號勝華樓地舖
Whenever you visited a country with a lot of Chinese, there's no doubt you'll find good hotpot. It's no different in Macao. This hotpot place is famous for their mutton/lamb claypot over charcoal which is becoming more rare in most restaurants as they need an open space for the charcoal. Read more about them in this blog post.11. Sei Kee Cafe
G/F, 1 Largo dos Bombeiros, Vila de Taipa 氹仔舊城區消防局前地1號地舖

For a taste of the traditional, you must visit this super established old school cafe (since 1965) that features authentic milk tea (that you can now take away in bottles) and fluffy, sinful pork chop charcoal buns in Taipa.

The best of a country's cuisine could often be found in training schools. In Paris you have Cordon Bleu, and in Macao there's the IFT, which teaches the next gen how to carry on the heritage. The dish below deserves special mention. It's called Minchi. It is the iconic, national Macanese dish that even the contemporary cafe, Cha Bei, carries. Minchi means minced, and was said to have Anglophone origins. You can find cafes such as Hei Lin serving it too.

They are worth a mention for any first-time foodies exploring Macao, because of their high end foodcourt-ish concept. There is a wide range of well-known local food, plus a mix of cuisines from nearby Hong Kong or Taiwan. The best part here is that you can order dishes from the different restaurants while seated at any outlet.

If you are a fan or lover of artisanal and freshly baked bread, this is the place to go! Other than those, there's also chocolate chilli cookies or scones to excite and tickle your tastebuds.

19. A Porta Da Arte 文藝門
32, R. dos Ervanarios, Macao

Not exactly a gastronomic stop more than a cultural one, for this is a lifestyle space of sort with a beautiful rooftop that serves up locally roasted coffee and local designer products. After that you can walk around, since this is pretty near Old House Bakery and other boutiques.

"Bar Stories" is a concept by Vida Rica bar where they bring in pop-up guest mixologists every weekend, based on the theme of different countries. It is a very popular concept because it brings something new every week.

Otherwise, you could also check out China Rouge for their stiff cocktails and entertaining music.

And there you have it! A non-exhaustive but comprehensive list of not 5, but 25 spots to check out in Macao the next time you are there, for a round the world and in-depth tour of food made in Macao. A lot of them I would not have known of, if not for a local (my sister's) intel. I reckon you'll need at least 3 nights there to get 3 dinners in, at least! Let's go!

The Market Grill has been around for a while on the busy Telok Ayer Street, but are probably overlooked as time went past because of so much F&B competition around the area. Still, this bistro/restaurant by The Unlisted Collection do have a good repertoire of dishes that deserves mention. When I spoke with Executive Chef Kenneth Lin, he mentioned that while in the past people come by for the Lobster Roll, nowadays there's also good steak and burgers on the menu. And that's no surprise to me, since those things do very well on the charcoal grill, which is the best way to go and what they use.

The decor of the place is typical of a shophouse restaurant and is well-ventilated despite the open kitchen, which I liked.

Fresh live lobsters in the tank greet you (along with the friendly waiters) just at the entrance, which is also good.

I really like the decor of this mirror with cuts of the cow on it. If I have a kitchen or dining room area of my own, I would love to hang this there.

Here's the menu as of April 2018 (from their website), with seasonal items written on the chalkboard in the restaurant.

On to the food! We tried, for appetisers, Pan-seared Scallops (S$26), which consists of bacon wrapped scallops, eggplant puree and battered covered baby corn. To be honest, the scallops themselves were a little cold and old when we ate it but I appreciated the charcoal grill effect! For the price though I wouldn't really order this. 2/5

We also tried something from the brunch menu, which I couldn't find online - it's like potatoes with minced meat with some greens and a poached egg. Even though it was dinner time, this was strangely not out of place. I liked the way everything was put together to complement each other, without being too over the top or sinful. 3/5

We then tried another brunch dish, the Lobster Benedict. If you taste something herby in there, it's probably the kaffir lime in the dressing, which I thought was a nice touch to cut through the intense, sweet flavour of the lobster claw (no complaints there though). This was probably my favourite item so far from what we had. 3.5/5

But then, we ascended to the climax - a beautiful, medium rare Wagyu Tri-Tip (S$49 for 200g). This was marvellous on a few levels. Firstly, you could really see the fat running through the steak, which melted in our mouths together with the beefy juice, as the meat was just lightly seared on the outside. Next, that potato mash that was probably laced with so much butter, because it tasted great as well. For the price, you're getting a really good amount of well-executed steak so props to the chef and the team! 4/5

So beautiful.

As a casual bistro with elevated prices, I think The Market Grill does some items really well but you will need to know how to order, because not all items are good. To me, just go for the jugular - the steak, or the lobster roll, and you won't go wrong. Otherwise, I'm thinking their burgers and mac and cheese will probably be decent as well!

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I'm Alexis Cheong - A Singapore food and lifestyle blogger. Passionate about good food, travel and beauty or gadgets. This blog is a place where I want to share all the things I love with over 17,700 views per month. Feel free to contact me to say hello or find out how we can collaborate.